March 12, 2008

View Women's Division III Indoor Track and Field Regional Award Winners

Brown, O'Brien and 22 Others Win Division III Indoor Regional Honors on Eve of NCAA Championships

NEW ORLEANS - Moravian's Ozzie Brown and Ohio Northern's James O'Brien have shown their dominance at the regional level. Now they'll try to do the same against the nation's best.

Brown and O'Brien are among the 24 men named by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as regional athletes and coaches of the year for the 2008 Division III indoor season. The USTFCCCA selects the top track athlete, field athlete and coach in each of the eight regions.

O'Brien will defend his national title in the 800 meters at this weekend's NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships on his home track at Ohio Northern. O'Brien was named the Men's Track Athlete of the Year in the Great Lakes Region.

Brown is the only athlete to win two regional awards. He was named the Men's Track Athlete of the Year in the Mideast Region and was also the Men's Field Athlete of the Year. Brown will compete in the 55 meters and long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The regional honorees for Division III men's indoor track and field:

South/Southeast Region

Men's Track: Freddie Linton, Emory University
Linton was part of three University Athletic Association record-setting performances at his conference meet, including a 48.47 clocking in the 400 meters that ranks second among Division III sprinters. Linton, a senior from New York City, will be making his first nationals appearance this weekend.

Men's Field: Al Winsley, Mississippi College
Winsley cleared 7-2½ at the Sewannee Invitational on March 1, easily the highest Division III jump of the season. At last year's NCAA outdoor meet, he placed second in the high jump and fifth in the long jump. Winsley is a senior from Brandon, Miss.

Men's Coach: Tyler Wingard, Christopher Newport University
The Captains won their 11th straight Mason-Dixon men's indoor championship and qualified high jumper Joseph Owens for the NCAA meet. Wingard is in his second season as head coach.

New England Region

Men's Track: Jonathan Garcia, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
Garcia leads the nation with his 7.37-second clocking in the 55-meter hurdles. He won the hurdles and long jump at the New England Alliance Championships and finished first in the hurdles at the New England Division III Championships. Garica is a senior from Stoneham, Mass.

Men's Field: Stephen Morton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Morton qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the long jump (23-1¾) and triple jump (47-10¾). Morton's personal best in the triple jump at the ECAC Championships broke a 25-year-old school record. He won both horizontal jumps at the New England Division III Championships. Morton is a sophomore from Lexington, Ky.

Men's Coach: Ethan Barron, Tufts University
Barron had three male athletes qualify for this week's NCAA Championships. He guided the Jumbos to the New England Division III indoor title, the first for Tufts since 1991. Barron is in his second season as head coach at Tufts.

Atlantic Region

Men's Track: Peter Kosgei, Hamilton College
Kosgei is the top-seeded entrant in the 800 meters (1:52.52) and mile (4:09.31) at this week's NCAA indoor meet. Kosgei won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at last year's NCAA outdoor meet and placed second in the NCAA Cross Country Championships. He is a sophomore from Kapsabet, Kenya.

Men's Field: Michael Burgstrom, University of Rochester
Burgstrom finished second in the weight throw at the ECAC Championships and enters this week's NCAA meet with a top effort of 60-9½, third on the national list. Burgstrom is a senior from Rochester.

Men's Coach: Steve Patrick, State University of New York at Cortland
Patrick's Dragons won its second straight SUNYAC men's indoor title and finished ninth at the ECAC Championships. Seven Dragons qualified for the NCAA Championships, and their distance medley relay is seeded third.

Central Region

Men's Track: Chris Wolf, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Wolf clocked a nation-leading 47.97 to win the 400 meters at the Great Plains Athletic Conference meet. He later ran the anchor leg on the Nebraska Wesleyan foursome that clocked the best time in the country (3:16.38) at the Cyclone Invitational. Wolf is a senior from Ceresco, Neb.

Men's Field: Kyle Calvert, Loras College
Calvert cleared a career-best 17-0¾ in the pole vault last weekend, lifting him to third on the yearly list entering the NCAA Indoor Championships. He earlier vaulted 16-11 to finish first at the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meet. Calvert is a junior from Pekin, Ill.

Men's Coach: Steve Mathre, University of St. Thomas (Minn.)
Mathre's Tommies swept the men's and women's titles at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference indoor meet for the ninth year in a row. St. Thomas qualified Brian Sames and James Ewer for the NCAA Indoor Championships. This is Mathre's 18th season at St. Thomas, the last 13 as head coach.

Midwest Region

Men's Track: Willy Kaul, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Kaul was in terrific form at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meet, winning the 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Kaul's 14:22.99 from the Warhawk Invitational is the fastest time of the season for Division III men. He is a junior from Menomonee Falls, Wisc.

Men's Field: Michael Bina, North Central College
Bina leads the 13 vaulters in the NCAA field with a best mark of 17-1 ½. He cleared 16-7½ to finish first at the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Championships. Bina is a senior from Aurora, Ill.

Men's Coach: Roger Haynes, Monmouth (Ill.) College
Monmouth's men continued their dominance of the Midwest Conference, winning their ninth straight men's indoor title. The Fighting Scots finished 100 points ahead of Illinois College with a winning score of 237 points. Zach Wilson has the nation's best mark in the weight throw at 62-3¼, and Monmouth teammate Peter Sprechler has the equal-best mark in the pole vault (17-1½). Haynes is in his 24th season as the men's coach.

Great Lakes Region

Men's Track: James O'Brien, Ohio Northern University
O'Brien will be gunning for his third straight national title when he competes in the 800 meters at the NCAA indoor meet. At the Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, he won four events - the 800, mile, 4 x 400 relay and distance medley. A junior from Pemberville, Ohio, O'Brien won the 800 at the 2007 NCAA indoor and outdoor championships.

Men's Field: Dan Gund, Mount Union College
Gund enters the NCAA Championships with the second-longest shot put throw (55-5) in the country behind Wisconsin-La Crosse's Bobby Riley (55-6½). Gund, a senior from Madison, Ohio, won the shot put at the Ohio Athletic Conference indoor meet. He finished eighth in the shot at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Men's Coach: Brian Cole, Ohio Northern University
Ohio Northern won the All-Ohio and Ohio Athletic Conference men's titles. The Polar Bears qualified two men for the NCAA Championships - Jimmy O'Brien, the defending national champion in the 800 meters, and Ryan Robertson in the long jump. Cole is in his 10th season as Ohio Northern's track and cross country coach.

Mideast Region

Men's Track: Ozzie Brown, Moravian College
Brown qualified for the NCAA indoor meet in the long jump and 55 meters. At the Landmark Conference Championships, he won five individual events, and he scored 35 of Moravian's 46 points at the ECAC Division III Championships. Brown set school records this winter in the 55 meters and 55-meter hurdles. He is a senior from Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Men's Field: Ozzie Brown, Moravian College
Brown has the nation's top Division III mark in the long jump at 23-11. He competed in the decathlon at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships but did not finish due to injury. He won five individual events and ran on the winning 4 x 200 relay team at this winter's Landmark Conference Championships. He is a senior from Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Men's Coach: Walter Wandall, Moravian College
The Greyhounds raced to victory at the inaugural Landmark Conference Indoor Championships and finished second out of 58 teams at the ECAC Division III Championships. Moravian senior Ozzie Brown will compete in the long jump and 55-meter hurdles at this weekend's NCAA meet. Wandall is in his eighth season on the Moravian cross country and track coaching staff.

West Region

Men's Track: Emmanuel Bofa, Whitworth University
With his 1:52.62 for 800 meters on an oversized track at the Husky Classic in mid-February, Bofa qualified for the NCAA Championships. Bofa is a sophomore from Puyallup, Wash.

Men's Field: Cody Stelzer, Whitworth University
Stelzer cleared 6-10¾ at the Washington State Open in January and is the third-highest Division III high jump performer entering the NCAA Indoor Championships. That jump broke an 11-year-old school record in the high jump. Stelzer is a sophomore from The Dalles, Ore.

Men's Coach: Toby Schwarz, Whitworth University
Despite a limited indoor schedule, Whitworth is sending two athletes (Emmanuel Bofa and Cody Stelzer) to the NCAA Championships. In his 11 seasons at Whitworth, Schwarz coached 11 Division III All-Americans.